June 24, 2014
Millennials and Home Ownership.
So you don’t think there is any purpose in buying a house in today’s market. The market has moved too high too fast. All the good deals are gone. “What’s the point anyway, for one reason or another, I won’t be in the same area long enough to make a dent in the mortgage so why not just rent. I’ll wait until I am more prepared, established and have settled down.”
Probably the most important fact to consider is your absolute need for some form of housing 30+ years forward. Whether it is a rental, your own home, assisted living, nursing home or a cardboard box, you will need a roof over your head. More importantly, this being the case, the best housing is the paid off solution.
Just as you fund various accounts for retirement, education, health care, and discretionaries, paid off shelter is an investment better addressed sooner than later.
I could expound ad nauseam on timelines, transfer costs, appreciation, depreciation, 10/15/30 year mortgages and all the mathematics required to own your theoretical fifth “paid off” and final shelter in your fourth State of residency. For instance you may at times have to consider accelerating your payments and at other times simply meet the minimums or cut your losses. Any approach however, will require the same diligence a sound business plan would demand.
You could argue that your investment prowess will afford you the ability to “write a check” for your final resting place in the sunset of your life. I say “terrific”. That will make you one of the rare fraction of the population with the genius, information, access, and discipline necessary to do so.
Aside from the sense of accomplishment you will be feeling and the reduced living expenses you will realize, think of the example you will be setting along with your families love and admiration having created a legacy of security through owning your own home free and clear.
After all the rest of your life is going to take all the time you have left. Pace yourself.
